Kelham

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Kelham is a small village in Nottinghamshire about 5 miles northwest of Newark on a bend in the A617 road near its crossing of the River Trent.

1 Historical
2 Kelham Hall
3 Notes
4 External links

[edit] Historical

Kelham is "a small but pleasant village and parish, upon the Worksop Road, and on the west bank of the Trent, 2 miles north-west of Newark. Its parish contains 208 inhabitants and 1,800 acres of land, of which 484 acres are on the island formed by the two rivers betwixt it and Newark. It has long been the seat and property of the Suttons, who once held the title of Lord Lexington. It is now the property of John Henry Manners Sutton Esq., who resides at the Hall, which was a plain but elegant building, with a centre and wings of brick, with stone corners and window frames, standing in a handsome lawn, near the Trent. A curious wooden bridge which crosses the river close to the lawn has been taken down, and a light but substantial iron bridge erected in its place at a cost of £3,000. The church, dedicated to St. Wilfred, had a handsome tower and three bells. It was new-roofed and completely renovated in 1844. Here is a richly wrought monument of the last Lord Lexington and his Lady, of fine stauary marble, but the figures are strangely placed back-to-back. The living is a rectory, valued in the King's books at £19 8s 4d, annexed to that of Averham, being in the same patronage and incumbency. The poor have the interest of £25 left by an unknown donor."^[1]

[edit] Kelham Hall

Originally the home of the Manners-Sutton family (a family connected to the Dukes of Rutland, the Marquess of Granby, and Viscount Canterbury) of Averham, Kelham Hall was destroyed by fire in Victorian times (November 27, 1857) and rebuilt. The modern "Kelham Hall is considered a masterpiece of high Victorian Gothic architecture, entirely asymmetrical, with a gloriously irregular skyline, and crowning 'grandiloquent' towers."^[2] It was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott.

Not long after the fire, "a new Kelham Hall, of magnificent proportions, and of an architectural beauty far superior to that possessed by its predecessors, either at Kelham or Averham was erected in the Italian style...and is justly said to be one of (Scott's)...most successful works."^[3]

The Hall was bought up by the Society for the Sacred Mission in 1903, and run as a Theological College, but was occupied by military forces during World War I. The Great Chapel "was dedicated in 1928 and was a masterpiece. It was almost square with a great central dome, (62 feet across and 68 feet high) the second largest concrete dome in England. A few visitors said it reminded them of Stonehenge - massive, austere and mysterious."^[4] The Hall was occupied again by military personnel during World War II. The College closed in 1972 due to declining numbers of enrolments.^[5] Since 1973, the Hall has been the head office of Newark and Sherwood District Council.